EPILOGUE

He attends the next wedding he is invited to.

After all, he's the best man; it would be difficult not to.

It's been four years since the last one, but oddly enough, it involves many of the same people. The setting has changed, and time has aged everyone, but he is still left wondering.

Wondering how after four years, he can still isolate her voice from a crowd; how her laugh still rings in his ears and pulls him right back into the past again; how, on this warm afternoon, he is subconsciously sensing her chakra, and maybe always has been.

A hush falls over; the shuffle of shoes and chairs as people rise. He looks out, and his eyes snap to her in an instant, like they belonged to her. Like he had never let her go in the first place.

Her silhouette hasn't changed at all; as he stares at her back, he is reminded of its sculpted, enigmatic quality, the curves he once caressed that now seemed cold and unyielding. It is the only marker in his mind that things have changed.

When Karui's hands have joined Choji's and the crowd is seated again, his eyes meet hers for the first time in four years.

She looks a little caught in the headlights at first, but then she does the opposite of what he expects.

She smiles.

He inhales deeply, gripping the notecards tightly in his hands.

/ Talk about childhood

/ Talk about Choji as a man

/ How he met Karui...fell in love

/ She makes him better etc.

/ Wish them a happy life together

As the tables fall silent, he notices the exact moment she pauses her conversation to turn and look at him, really look at him; listening, waiting.

He puts the notecards down.

"I'll be honest; when Choji and Karui first started dating, I wondered if my best friend knew what he was getting himself into."

The crowd looks at him curiously, as do the entire wedding party.

"Long-distance relationships are difficult. They're not designed to be will-they-won't-they; they're not for casual flings. They require mutual trust, commitment and effort from the very beginning. You can feel the closest you've ever felt to another person even though you're an entire land apart, but it can also break your heart like no other. And given that this was Choji's first relationship, I didn't know if he was ready for either outcome," he says, pausing, steeling himself to continue. "But then, I realised it was going to last when I saw him look at Karui the way he had previously only ever looked at food."

Cue resounding laughter.

"In all seriousness, I think it says a lot about who Choji is as a man: he has a big stomach, but an even bigger heart. He had so much love to give that he hadn't even known about until he met this woman who challenged him in every way; but most importantly, challenged him to find something worth fighting for. When I see the two of them together, I see what true love is: no drama or fairytales, but a lot of patience, respect, and understanding. And if I can find someone who looks at me the way Choji looks at Karui, or the way Choji looks at food for that matter, then I know to never let them go." A little chuckle from the audience, and then, "To the happy couple."

"Cheers," she mouths, raising her glass.

"Can I have this dance?"

She stills in her seat as the familiar voice surrounds her. After a moment, she turns to see his hand extended, his face much closer than expected.

"Why not," she smiles politely, delicately placing her left hand in his and rising from her chair. He glances at their interlinked fingers.

"Quite a large elephant you've got there," he comments as they gravitate towards the dance floor.

She chuckles, raising her hand for a moment to inspect its stark bareness. "Yeah, well. You can probably guess the rest."

"Divorced?"

"I'm surprised the press didn't make it over to Konoha," she murmurs as she places her hands on his shoulders and his move to her waist. "It was quite the scandal."

"I haven't really paid much attention to the news." At least not from Suna.

"Good. All this peace means it's mostly just gossip these days, anyway."

"You've never really cared for anyone else's opinion as it is."

"Exactly. But being born into aristocracy means you have to care to an extent, because of all the rumours and accusations that fly," she sighs. "But, of course, I handled it gracefully as ever."

"I'm sure." He glances at his feet. "I'm sorry I didn't come to your wedding."

She laughs. "That's okay, considering it might as well not have happened."

"Still."

"Still, I think it's for the best that you didn't come," she adds, more seriously this time. "I…don't know how much strength I would've had."

"Well, I wasn't in great shape, anyway."

"Don't tell me these things," she pleads quietly. "I don't want to hear them."

He says nothing, and his silence says it all.

She looks at him then, eyes full of sadness and missed opportunity. "You had to know, Shikamaru; nothing has been the same since."

He's not sure if the implication is since we were together or since we broke up, but he soon realises it doesn't matter either way, because both are true for him as well.

"Come back."

Her swaying halts in an instant, and she feels every hair on her body stand to attention as she shifts under the weight of his words.

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"No, you're not. Maybe for the night, maybe for the weekend, but a wedding is just a wedding. Your heart isn't here."

"If I asked you to come to Suna with me, would you do it?"

He tenses in her periphery at the suggestion, the indirect invitation, but his shoulders quickly relax with solemnity. After all, they know too much, have done too much to each other, for any words to be used or interpreted lightly. "If I could, in a heartbeat."

She hears his voice falter, feels the tears begin to form in his eyes.

"Well, I guess that's too bad," she says quietly, letting her head rest on his shoulder so they don't have to look at each other right now.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me."

Choji lifts his face from his huge portion of wedding cake as his best man returns to the table. "Tell you what?"

"About Temari's divorce."

"Hey, don't point fingers at me. Ino was the one who banned everyone from talking about her altogether."

"She did that?"

"Dude, we had a whole group meeting about this after her wedding. No discussion, not even amongst each other. She wanted to protect you, you know. It seemed like the only way, given that you barricaded yourself inside your apartment for weeks on end afterwards."

"They got divorced, Choji. That's pretty fucking huge."

"We figured you had more self-respect than to swoop in when she was weak."

"That's not what I meant," Shikamaru grumbles. "It's a big deal, no matter how you look at it. And I would've finally been able to move on, instead of knowing what this guy looked like and feeling his fist in my face and still knowing I lost to him."

"Ha!" Choji scoffs, nearly choking on his cake. "As if that news would've let you move on. You'd have started counting the possibilities."

"Hey—"

"And you're forgetting one crucial point, Shikamaru. You didn't lose to her ex-husband. You screwed yourself over on this one."

His best friend is rarely one for provoking insight, but this one hits hard.

After some time, he asks, "When did it happen?"

"Well, I imagine it was when you broke up with her—"

"No, the divorce, Choji."

"Oh. I don't know, ten months...a year ago? It's been a while."

"A year?!" Shikamaru shakes his head.

"What are you old ladies gossiping about now?" Ino huffs as she parks herself in her seat, face freshly powdered. "Choji, stop being such a glutton and dance with your wife on your wedding day."

"Jeez, Ino, it's his own cake, let him eat it for crying out loud," Shikamaru grumbles.

"Don't start lecturing me as if you know any better. Weren't you dancing with, hm, who was that again...your ex-girlfriend, five minutes ago?"

"So?" Shikamaru fires back. "Why's that so bad? We can be friends."

"Please. Anyone who has a working pair of eyes can tell you're still in love with her."

"Ino..." Choji mutters uncomfortably.

"No, Choji, why should we have to put up with his misery and fantasies? It's not our job to baby him half a decade after they broke up. Shikamaru, we love you. But you need to grow the fuck up."

"Ino!"

"What, Choji? Do you want me to tell him that everything will be okay? That there are plenty more fish in the sea? That she was a bitch for marrying someone else? What's the point in sugarcoating anything when that's all we've done for four years and nothing has changed?"

"But—"

"She's right, Choji," Shikamaru says quietly.

"Oh, come on, man!" his best friend practically wails. "You can't crawl back into this hole on my wedding day!" He stuffs the last piece of cake into his mouth and stands up. "Ino, I'm leaving him to you. He'd better be out there for the garter toss!"

As the groom leaves, Ino faces her forlorn friend. "Shikamaru. If you love her, you need to make it clear, and make her yours. No more 'maybe' and 'what if' and 'should have'. No more hiding."

"I already made it clear!" he snaps. Then, quieter, "We both did. And we realised it won't work out."

"What? Why?"

"Because we live in two different places!"

"Shikamaru," Ino sighs. "Do you realise whose wedding you're at? Did you even listen to your own speech?! If Choji and Karui can love each other and get married and make it work, then why the hell can't you?"

As the night comes to a close, he approaches the group of girls who are all figuring out how to get home and offers to walk her back to her apartment.

"That's okay," she smiles. "I'm going to drop Tenten off, since her place is on the way to mine."

"No, don't worry about me!" Tenten almost shouts, happily drunk. "Kiba, Shino and I are going to the bar after. You guys should come!"

"I've got to start my journey back tomorrow, but thanks for the invite," Temari laughs.

"That's too bad. Shikamaru?"

"I'll take Temari home," he replies.

"Yeah you will," Tenten remarks slyly, raising her eyebrows at the two of them.

"I didn't mean it like that," he says quickly. "I just want to make sure she's home safe."

"Sure," she giggles, unconvinced. "Well, have a good night!"

"You, too." The two of them turn in the direction of her apartment.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, she says, "It was great to see you tonight."

"Well, I wouldn't miss it. It's my best friend's wedding, after all."

"Crazy. But I'm so happy for them." She sighs into the cool night air. "It's exactly as you said…no drama, no fairytales. Just two people who love each other, easy as that."

"Do you think it's that easy?"

"I think it could be."

"Then come back." He stops and faces her, forcing her to halt as well.

"I already told you; I'm here," she says plainly, an edge of age-old frustration to her voice.

"And I'm telling you, now: I love you. Damn it, Temari, I'm so in love with you that I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the fact it's been five years and I'm still fucked up over this." He rubs the back of his neck in exasperation. "There were times when I dated people and I was happy and it was great, but whenever I remember you, it fucks me up. I've loved you longer while we've been apart than when we were together. If love is as easy as you say it is, then just what are we doing?"

"It is easy," she maintains. "But you and I always found a way to complicate it. It guess we wanted to be interesting, but look how that turned out."

"Do you love me?"

Silence.

"Do you love me?" he reiterates, eyes hard, face stern.

She sighs. "Of course I love you, Shikamaru. I've never really been a subtle person," she says, as if it's a fact as simple and obvious as night and day. "But it doesn't change anything."

"How can it not?"

"What makes now any different from back then?"

He opens his mouth to retort, but no words escape. She looks at him expectantly, but no answer follows.

Only a question.

"Well, would you marry me?"